Twist of Fate
by Jennifer01
Summary: Hermione and Draco are drowning in their own lives can and will they save each other? Ok chapter 8 is up
1. Poetry

Alone  
  
Dark Rooms  
  
No sense of feeling  
  
I cannot feel  
  
Numbness of the body  
  
Tears, hurt, confusion  
  
Scars on the heart  
  
Won't leave  
  
Won't die  
  
Won't do anything  
  
But suffer  
  
Anger  
  
Rage at all  
  
For not seeing  
  
That what they do hurts  
  
That what they say stings  
  
`````````````````````````````````  
  
"I've gone completely mad." She thought. "But it's how you feel some days." Another voice in her mind said.  
  
She looked at the newly written poem on the nice new sheet of paper in her little notebook; the notebook that so many had tried to get a hold of.  
  
"Probably to hurt me." She thought again. "Why else would they want to read my boring journal?"  
  
At that moment someone opened the door to the fifth year girls dormitory and she snapped the little book of her world shut. She stormed out not caring at what she had to do to get outside, away from it all. She pushed past some people not hearing those that called her name. She left the Gryffindor common room and found her spot outside, secluded from the outside world.  
  
"Harry can I talk to you?" Lavender asked with a tone of urgency in her voice.  
  
"Can it wait? Me and Ron were just about to play a game of wizards' chess."  
  
"No, it can't" She said with a serious look on her face. "It's about Hermione. Last night I got into that little book she carries with her everywhere." Her voice started to trail off. "She's so upset and sad." She stammered. "Some of the stuff she wrote about was so awful it made me want to cry." She said with a tear rolling down her cheek.  
  
"What did she write about, Lavender?" He asked.  
  
"Here." She said while handing him a piece of paper with something scribbled on it. "I copied it down from her book before she realized it was gone." And with that she headed out to leave Harry with the note.  
  
`````````````````````````````` Words hurt  
  
Even more than slit wrists  
  
I wish I could stop  
  
The hurt, the pain  
  
The tears that sting  
  
But not even a hero could save my tormented soul  
  
Someone once told me that love would save all  
  
But love can't help  
  
Love can't make the dark empty rooms in my head go away  
  
Love can't make me stop crying  
  
All it does is cause hurt in the end  
  
And more hurt is what I can't handle  
  
Scars on my heart won't heal  
  
They only get deeper  
  
Only get worse  
  
```````````````````````````  
  
"Ron, come read this." He half shouted.  
  
"What is it?" Ron asked  
  
"Just read it." He said shoving the piece of paper into his hands.  
  
"Who wrote it?" Ron asked after he finished reading it looking puzzled.  
  
"Hermione." Harry said.  
  
"Why didn't she tell us that she's gone completely mad?" Ron asked with a tone of seriousness in his voice. "She's so sad, how did we not see it Harry? How? We're supposed to be her best friends and we didn't even see a hint of what was really going on." A very upset Ron said.  
  
"I don't know." Harry said quietly.  
  
Harry knew that Ron had had a crush on their best friend since the Yule Ball in their fourth year. So he knew that Ron would be upset after he read the poem.  
  
Ron and Harry clamored to the Portrait hole and left the Gryffindor common room to find Hermione.  
  
"Alright, Let's split up so we cover more ground you check the library I'll go upstairs." Harry said.  
  
"Alright." Ron agreed.  
  
With that they both set off to find her. But what they didn't know was that she would be breaking rules so she could be alone. So they never thought she would be outside since it was dark out already.  
  
`````````````````````  
  
As Hermione wandered around Hogwart's grounds she heard someone behind her. She turned around and came face to face with Draco Malfoy.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked annoyed with his presence.  
  
"Nothing from you." He said coolly. "I just want to be outside away from Pansy Parkinson."  
  
"Well then leave." She said while all of her emotions turned into anger for no reason.  
  
He eyed her suspiciously because she was never angry unless provoked and he had done nothing of that sort.  
  
"What's your problem? You know what I don't really want to hear it, I've got my own problems." He asked.  
  
"Go to hell." She snapped.  
  
After her last remark Draco was fully intrigued with her behavior and decided to interrogate her about it.  
  
"No, wait I didn't mean to say that." He said trying to add fake enthusiasm to his voice.  
  
"You wouldn't care. No one would." She said walking away from him as it was late and she didn't want to deal with him anymore.  
  
So that's what her problem is, He thought. She thinks no one cares about her anymore.  
  
"If only you knew how wrong you were." He said aloud, surprised that he did.  
  
````````````````````````  
  
Hermione had managed to get to her dorm room with no one bothering her. She laid on her bed and fell asleep almost instantly. That was the funny thing about depression you would sleep all the time or not at all. 


	2. Potions

When she awoke she hurried down to breakfast with the other Gryffindors. While they ate a soft flutter of beating wings could be heard overhead.  
  
Without notice, one of the school's owls dropped a white rose in front of Hermione. She picked it completely baffled as to why it was there. She looked for a note or something on it to determine who had sent it and found a little pice of paper that only read:  
  
To: Hermione G.  
  
  
  
While she stared at the note in disbelief all of the other Gryffindors started to take notice on what she was holding and they began to question her about it when she looked up.  
  
"Ron did you send her that?" Harry asked in a hushed whisper.  
  
"No, I thought you had."  
  
"No."  
  
"Well who did?" Ron asked  
  
"I don't know."  
  
When Hermione was done she set off to the dungeons were they had potions with the Slytherins.  
  
``````````````  
  
Hermione sat in Professor Snape's room diligently taking notes oblivious to what was happening so she never saw his eyes on her. That was how he wanted it though; he wanted to just be able to stare at her.  
  
He was Draco Malfoy. Son of a Death Eater. On the outside he was Lucius Malfoy's perfect son but on the inside he was a depressed sad person that just wanted to die so he wouldn't have to serve as a Death Eater.  
  
As a child he adored his father. As any child would do. But as he grew older he began to see that his father was nothing more than a power hungry monster that hurt him and his mother. He began to look at things in a different light, his light not his father's.  
  
He stared at Granger. He wanted to know why he was attracted to the filthy mudblood.  
  
No. He thought. "Mudblood" is my father's word.  
  
He felt anger well up inside of him when he tried to understand why he had the urge not to be so vile to her. He didn't want to be nice to her but felt a need to be. He hated this need with every ounce of his energy.  
  
Completely ignoring Professor Snape's lesson he began to write about anything to keep his gaze away from her direction. He let the words come to his fingers instead of thinking about it. He knew that the most meaningful poetry was the kind you didn't think about as you wrote.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," Came a drawling voice from behind him. "What was I just talking." He said as he trailed off when he discovered Draco trying to hide something from him. "What Is that?" He demanded. "Mr. Malfoy hand it here." He finished.  
  
When Professor Snape took the sheet of parchment away from Draco he held the attention of every student. They waited with a death like quietness for him to speak as he read.  
  
"Interesting, Mr. Malfoy. But this kind of rubbish shall not be attending class with you any longer. I think your father would agree with me. Is that understood?"  
  
Draco merely nodded his head looking at his hands. He wondered why Professor Snape didn't try to curse him, even though he was a Slytherin.  
  
Professor Snape had been acting strangely for the past couple of weeks. Draco couldn't place why, in fact no one could. He had been nicer to the Gryffindors, all the while being viler to the Slytherins.  
  
After Professor Snape got a hold of the poem Draco had written the rest of potions went by without hardly any incident, except for when Neville's potion bubbled out of control to the point where all of it ended up on the floor.  
  
As they left the room Draco carelessly ran into Hermione knocking her to the floor.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said extending his hand out to help her back up into a standing position.  
  
She didn't say anything she just looked at him in disbelief. She didn't grab his hand either, she didn't know wether he wanted to help her or let go of her hand and let her fall. So she looked at him in suspicion.  
  
He saw that doubt displayed on her face.  
  
"Yes, Granger I am capable of saying the "s" word. Now let me help you off of the floor."  
  
"I don't need your help."  
  
She jumped up off of the floor, gathered her things and left the classroom. Only she didn't get everything.  
  
````````````````````````` 


	3. The hooded figure

"Professor, I have news." Snape said.  
  
"Good." Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully as he conjured up two mugs of hot chocolate.  
  
Snape didn't understand how he could be so cheerful at a time like this. At the return of Voldemort. He thought that this should be a time of gloom and despair.  
  
"You should always be optimistic when things look bad, Severus. Worrying never gets any one anywhere." He said handing professor Snape one of the mugs.  
  
Snape looked at him in disbelief. He would never understand how Dumbledore always seemed to know what was on your mind even before you did.  
  
"Now what was it that you wanted to share with me?"  
  
"Voldemort has a new target. A completely new plan. He wouldn't let me in on all of the details since he thinks I'm double crossing him, but I do know the basics."  
  
"Very well done, Severus."  
  
```````````````````````````  
  
  
  
Draco staggered down a corridor he had hardly recognized. When suddenly someone came up behind him, grabbed him by the cloak and shoved him into the wall.  
  
"I hope your not getting soft on us." The hooded person said.  
  
"Of course not, why would I be?" Draco replied.  
  
"You better hope so. Or the Dark Lord will kill you the first chance he gets. Do you understand what I say?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good." Said the figure as he let go of Draco and patted him on the back as if he was a little dog who obeyed his master.  
  
The hooded figure left Draco where he had found him and Draco slid to the floor. He sat with his head in his hands wishing things didn't have to be as they were. He hoped for a way out of the life already set out for him by his father.  
  
He sat there until someone poked him to get him to look up at him or her. He wouldn't. He couldn't.  
  
"Draco."  
  
At the sound of a gentle voice he looked up and saw Hermione Granger.  
  
When he did look up she saw his tear stained face. She looked at him curiously. She had never seen a trace of real emotion other than hate upon his face and there they were the clues she needed to see.  
  
"What do you want?" He asked.  
  
"I wanted to see if you were alright."  
  
A simple phrase started to play in his mind. "I hope your not getting soft on us." He winced when he heard the voice again for he did not want to hear that voice ever again. If he was to live no matter how much he didn't want to, he had to play the part he had perfected over the years. So he did, with beauty and grace.  
  
"I am fine. I don't need a mudblood like you to help me." When he finished; he got up off the floor, turned in the direction of the Slytherin common room and sped off leaving her alone.  
  
As he walked he suddenly remembered the little book he had found on his way out of potions. He hadn't opened it yet he merely pocketed it before he was seen with it. When he reached the Slytherin portrait hole he muttered the password and slipped inside.  
  
When he was alone inside the boys' dormitory, he took out the little book and opened it. He searched for any clue that would tell him whom it belonged to. Finding none he began to flip through pages inside of it. He read a couple of the pages and realized that he wasn't the only tormented person at that school.  
  
`````````````````  
  
She had lost it. It. Her world. She was careless. She had left her book somewhere. She frantically started to try to remember whether or not she had left her name in it. But she had been careful not to, in case this was to happen.  
  
She still felt panicked though. She couldn't shake the feeling no matter what she did. So she tried to sleep. Unsuccessfully but she had tried.  
  
"Hermione." Came Harry's soft voice.  
  
He was outside of her door. But she didn't want to talk to him or anyone else so she pretended to be asleep.  
  
Over the past few days Harry and Ron had tried to make her feel important. They tried to talk to her about what was bothering her but whenever they brought it up she would remember she had left something in the library.  
  
She had been avoiding them and she was doing quite a good job at it too. She could always sneak away when they tried to corner her.  
  
She finally fell asleep after many hours of trying. 


	4. Look of Disgust

"Severus is there anything else?" Dumbledore said.  
  
"No. Headmaster, what should I do? What should I tell them?" Snape said.  
  
"Tell them enough to keep them from being suspicious of where your loyalties lie."  
  
"Do you truly think that is wise?"  
  
"It's the only thing we can do at this time."  
  
```````````````````  
  
She sat alone in the library. There were very few other students in the library these days. Hermione had concluded that since Voldemort was rising to power again, the other students didn't think that studying was worth their time.  
  
She was glad that there weren't many others though, it meant she wouldn't be bothered. She had finally began to focus on the book she was reading when some one grabbed her from behind.  
  
It was Harry.  
  
"Hermione, please tell me what's been going on with you lately." Harry pleaded.  
  
"Nothing Harry, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Really I will."  
  
"I don't think so, Hermione."  
  
"Well you're wrong. There's nothing wrong with me. I'm just stressed about O.W.L.S. "  
  
She gathered her things and got up.  
  
He knew that she would deny the possibility of anything being wrong so he came prepared. He pulled the little piece of parchment out of his pocket.  
  
She began to walk away from him.  
  
"Words hurt, Even more than slit wrists."  
  
She stopped dead in her tracks when he spoke. She knew exactly what he had, but didn't know where he got it. She turned around quick as lightning.  
  
"Where did you get that?" She asked with rage in her voice.  
  
"It doesn't matter where I got it, what really matters is why you wrote it."  
  
She was so angry she couldn't look at him, so she stared at the ground while speaking.  
  
"I don't know why. Just give it here."  
  
She looked up at him and he thought she was going to rip him to pieces. But he didn't answer her; he merely looked at her, not knowing what to do, what to say.  
  
"Fine!" She yelled "Just keep it, and while you're at it, why don't you share it with everyone."  
  
She stormed out of the library and ran outside. When she got there, she sat in the grass and stared at the lake's smooth surface.  
  
"Where did he get it?" She said aloud.  
  
"I found it."  
  
She turned to see Harry behind her. She looked back at the lake and didn't say a word.  
  
He had followed her. He had kept a safe distance between him and her to keep suspicion down.  
  
Now he saw that she was really truly hurting for whatever reason it would've been. So he sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. It was a sign of comfort, of caring.  
  
````````````````````  
  
Draco flipped through the pages of the little book, taking in the poetry that was written inside of it. He connected with what was written. He wanted to know who had written in the book. He needed to know.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle came into the room where Draco lie reading through the mysterious book. Without saying a word Draco got up and left the Slytherin boys' dorm room and slipped out their portrait hole before Crabbe and Goyle could follow him.  
  
He had been putting much distance between him and the other Slytherins. He himself didn't know why, but the presence of Crabbe and Goyle didn't appeal like it used to. He loathed trying to get through a meal with them by his side. So he kept a distance between them.  
  
He walked outside. He wandered around the grounds for a bit until he saw them sitting together. He saw that she had been upset and that he was comforting her.  
  
"Damn that Potter." He muttered underneath his breath. "He always has to be the hero. He can't ever just back off? He always has to save the day." He looked at them with disgust upon his pale face.  
  
When Draco was thoroughly sickened he turned and left. Going back inside the Hogwarts Castle. 


	5. Silence

Things were relatively normal for Hermione after that day. She, Harry and Ron were getting along. They weren't forgetting that she was one of their best friends anymore. But something was still wrong no matter how much she tried, she still felt empty inside.  
  
She was an actress. She had gotten used to putting on her "show". She was supposedly happy during the day and miserable at night. In fact she was miserable all day; she just didn't let anyone no it.  
  
She had not forgotten about her long lost friend. The book she poured her heart and soul into. She longed to have it back. The embarrassment of losing and the possibility of someone finding had subsided. She just wanted it back, she didn't care if who had it knew she wrote it anymore. She missed her confidant.  
  
If she had been more careful and observant she would have noticed that someone did indeed have her book. Someone she did not want to have it.  
  
She walked to potions with Harry and Ron. It was Friday and they had double potions with the Slytherins. Something they all loathed. They loathed both the Slytherins and Professor Snape.  
  
"Good Afternoon Class, today we will be covering, Polyjuice Potion." Snape looked at Hermione, Ron and Harry as he said "Polyjuice Potion".  
  
"Since it is extremely difficult and it would take a month to brew, we will not be brewing it. Although some of you already have."  
  
The three of them kept their eyes away from Snape's direction. Even though it seemed he already knew that they indeed had brewed the potion before; they did not want to let him know even if he didn't.  
  
"Ms. Granger, why is it that when I mention that particular potion you look the guiltiest out of all of my students? Could it be that you of all people brewed it before?"  
  
But Professor Snape hadn't a clue to which it was; he just wanted to scare the students a little. Yes, that's what it was, to scare them. "No, Professor. I haven't a clue to what you're talking about." She said this with the confidence and grace she had mastered while lying to her friends.  
  
"I hope not Ms. Granger. We wouldn't want you expelled. Now do we?"  
  
"Of course not, Professor."  
  
Professor Snape turned his attention away from her and continued with his lesson.  
  
As the students were taking notes Snape realized he held the attention of every student but one.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy must we make this an everyday ordeal? What may I ask are you so interested in today? More poetry perhaps?"  
  
"No sir."  
  
"Well what was it you were paying attention to?" He saw Draco glance at Hermione for a second and decided to press the subject further.  
  
"Well speak up boy. I'm sure Ms. Granger would like to know who was looking at her."  
  
Hermione simply did not look up at anyone. She could hear whispers arising around her but she only stared at her paper. She had felt someone's gaze upon her while she was taking notes but was too afraid that Snape would jump at the chance to embarrass her yet again. And he did only this time it wasn't her fault; it was Draco's.  
  
"Newt got your tongue?"  
  
Draco was thoroughly angered now. He was turning the deep shade of red that the Weasly family passed down from generation to generation. Without thinking about what he was doing he shoved his things into his bag and exited the classroom.  
  
He didn't even hear Professor Snape as he stormed out of the classroom.  
  
`````````````````````  
  
"Can you believe that worm just got away with storming out of class like that?" Ron inquired.  
  
"No. But he's Draco Malfoy and it WAS Professor Snape's class." Harry said.  
  
"Slimy git, always gets away with murder in that class. And no one stops him."  
  
Hermione wasn't listening to their complaints about the pale-faced boy, instead she was thinking about what happened.  
  
The fact he didn't protest when Snape accused of him of such a "horrid act" as Draco, No Malfoy, would have put it. It didn't strike her as odd until they were out of class. Even then it was like a daze.  
  
She didn't understand why he didn't jump at the chance to call her an awful name like he always did. 


	6. Duty

He streaked across the classroom quick as he could. He heard Professor Snape yelling after him but he left so quickly he didn't fully comprehend what he had said. It didn't matter what the professor had said Draco knew what it would've been. He headed to his dormitory to sleep the rest of the day. He was very wrong though he wouldn't be sleeping the rest of the day. Nor through the night. He would be too frightened.  
  
As he walked through the Slytherin portrait hole someone grabbed him from behind.  
  
"Ah we meet yet again. I have brought you news from your father." He shoved an unopened envelope into Draco's hands before releasing him.  
  
"What no gratitude?"  
  
"Yeah thanks a lot." Draco mumbled sarcastically.  
  
"Is that a hint of sarcasm I detect?"  
  
"No."  
  
"It better not be."  
  
The person suddenly disappeared as quickly as he came.  
  
Draco looked at the envelope in his hands. It had the Malfoy symbol on it. A simple snaked coiled around a sword. He did not open it until he got to his dorm room.  
  
He came inside of the door and closed it. Since the other Slytherin boys were still in Potions, where he should have been, he had the room to himself. Something not very common in the Slytherin house.  
  
He sat down onto his bed and carefully started to open the letter. When he did finally manage to open it he pulled out the piece of parchment and held it in his hands just staring at it. His hands trembled as he unfolded it. He looked down at the letter finally making himself read it.  
  
  
  
Draco,  
  
My dearest son. Your time will come soon. You will finally serve as I have chosen to do. You will carry on the tradition to your offspring and them to theirs. When it is time you will be summoned. Do not try to fight your duty, or you will be eliminated.  
  
  
  
Have a good Holiday, Lucuis  
  
Draco immediately turned cold as ice; he couldn't believe what he had read.  
  
  
  
The phrase "You will be eliminated." Went through his mind, repeating itself like a broken record. He re-read the letter until he memorized it against his own will.  
  
As he set the letter down on his bedside table and pulled his shaking hands away from it; the letter burst into flames leaving no trace of burn marks. Only leaving a pile of ash that could never be resurrected.  
  
But that was the way Lucius Malfoy had planned it. He couldn't let the letter float around until it came in contact with one certain Headmaster. He even put a spell on it so that it couldn't be brought back, to the point where it was legible.  
  
He was prepared for everything and that was what scared Draco Malfoy the most, the fact that he couldn't escape his father if he tried. He could do nothing but pretend to be like his father. To be the son that Lucius wanted him to be.  
  
Draco shifted slightly on his bed and remained still until the other Slytherins came into the room.  
  
A strange feeling came over Draco as he watched the others stream into the room. He was to be like his father now. It didn't matter if he wanted to be or not he was to be. His confidence rose greatly as he ordered Crabbe and Goyle around.  
  
Being bad would be fun, he concluded. It had been in the past.  
  
He wondered why he ever lost that faith. He vaguely remembered what it was that made him lose sight of what was really important. But he didn't care anymore. If his father wished him to be evil, then evil he would be.  
  
````````````````````````````  
  
Hermione Granger was finishing the paper that Professor Snape had given them in class that day. 


	7. Realization

Something was very wrong with Draco. He couldn't help but give in to the temptation to be what his father wanted him to be. When he tried to fight the urges it was like something overthrew him. Draco was slowly progressing into the ugly being like his father.  
  
Draco hardly felt for anything anymore. Except for Granger. He was still attracted to that damned no good twit.  
  
When he began to fell nothing, he thought it a blessing that maybe he would be able to forget that she ever existed in the first place. But now that his interest in the things he used to enjoy subsided he found himself concentrating on her more than ever.  
  
He felt a growing need to be near her, just so she knew he was there. So she knew he was real. But mostly so that he knew she was real.  
  
He was spotted in the library these days. So he could be in her presence and to isolate himself from the other Slytherins.  
  
He found that when he was around the others he was more vulnerable to the nagging feeling that was telling him to join them. He wouldn't, couldn't let himself join them. He couldn't bear to think of what the life of a Death Eater could possibly be like. Let alone become one.  
  
If only his realization of what his father really was came sooner. It would've made things a lot easier on him now. If only he could've gotten sorted into a more suitable house. Like, Gryffindor.  
  
"No." He thought to himself. "If I had been sorted into Gryffindor then he would've defiantly killed me the summer after first year. He would've made it look like an accident too. Damn slimy git." While Draco pondered the possibility of getting into the Gryffindor house he grew angrier with his father. And didn't even notice the bushy headed girl that seemed to slip in undetected. By him at least.  
  
A Gryffindor boy had noticed her. A boy her age.  
  
"Hello Hermione. What are you up to today?"  
  
"Hello Seamus. I'm finishing my charms paper."  
  
"But that's not due until after Christmas break." He sounded dumbfounded and astonished at the same time and Hermione picked up on it as soon as the words left his mouth.  
  
"Of course I'm aware of that. But I wanted to finish it before the break. In case I go home to see my mum and dad."  
  
Their conversation picked up and before long they found that they had a lot in common and that Seamus did talk about things other than quidditch.  
  
Draco looked around the room while he stretched his arms and saw them. He saw her next to him and she looked happy. Something not seen very much. He got up out of his seat; picked up the items he had with him and headed over to where they were. He was going to break up their little pow-wow, if it took every ounce of energy he had.  
  
He walked to where they were. He stood in front of their table and as they looked at him he began to speak.  
  
"Oh look the mudblods found a friend. How utterly sweet." He negatively emphasized the word sweet, to indicate he was completely disgusted with the sight of them.  
  
"Buzz off. Malfoy. Don't you have a rat to kill somewhere?"  
  
"Wow real creative. Seamus is it?"  
  
In the background Draco and Seamus were still arguing over any trival thing that seemed to come to mind.  
  
Hermione wasn't paying attention to their squabbling instead she was focused on Draco's hand. Not his hand particularly but what was in it.  
  
  
  
"Where did you get that?" She asked indicating the book in his hand.  
  
At once their arguing desist, both intent on hearing what she had to say.  
  
"Well." She demanded.  
  
He looked at her puzzled, then realized that she was referring to the book he held in his hand.  
  
"This book?"  
  
"Of course. Now tell me, where did you get it?"  
  
"I found it, why." He looked at her with a suspicious look upon his face.  
  
"No reason."  
  
For some unknown reason to Hermione and to Draco, her diary made its way into the hands of the enemy. She was shocked by this. Of all people that could've found it, it had to be him. The one person she couldn't trust. Not with anything like her life.  
  
He was now extremely suspicious of what her motive was when she questioned why he had the book and where he got it. His mind went to work. He recalled the day he found it. The memory flashed in front of his eyes.  
  
Seeing as Draco was now in a world of his own Seamus and Hermione left the library, to go back to the common room.  
  
But Draco stayed in the library he had to work out the weird vibe he received from her. He thought about it until he finally got it. The diary was hers.  
  
When this thought first came to him he couldn't believe it. That a person like Granger could something so painful and dark was completely impossible. But the more he thought of it, the more real it became. The look she had given him. The fact he found it after she left the classroom.  
  
It all fit like a demented puzzle. Almost as sad as his life. 


	8. The Plan

"Why?" He asked himself. "Why her? Couldn't it have been someone else?" Anyone." He muttered to himself.  
  
He knew that he would never be able to talk of such things with her. He could never be anything more than Malfoy to her. Not even a friend. His father, the potty and the weasel wouldn't have it. Everything stood in the way. Tradition, houses, friends and family.  
  
His heart felt heavy, the hope he felt was completely gone now. It was completely demolished, nothing was left. He felt the need to cry but couldn't find the energy. He felt numb.  
  
"Well that was I wanted in the first place."  
  
"They say that talking to yourself is the first step to insanity." A voice behind him said.  
  
He turned to find the school's librarian, Madame Pince, behind him. She didn't wait for a reaction from him but instead went right on straightening a table left untidy by a couple of third years.  
  
He left the library and went to his dorm room, where he fell asleep, oblivious to the whispers around him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
(While Hermione and Draco are both in the library)  
  
"So what is the plan?" Crabbe said, completely unaware of the fact he was just told the plan ten minutes ago.  
  
"Uugggghhh! Must I go over this again? You grab the girl and bring her to me. That's all you have to do."  
  
"So where will you be."  
  
"I will be here. Waiting for you"  
  
"So how do you want me to get her?"  
  
"I DON'T care!! Be creative if you have to."  
  
"Creative?"  
  
"YES!"  
  
"So when do I grab her?"  
  
"Tomorrow Night." He said rubbing his hands together in a very menacing fashion. "I give you the go for when we need you to collect her." He said the phrase "collect her" like he was going to borrow something of no importance at all.  
  
"So if I have to remember all this. What does Goyle have to do?"  
  
"Goyle. Will be watching after her until we are ready."  
  
"Ready for what?" At this comment Crabbe got hit across the head with a very powerful hand. "Oww." He muttered.  
  
"If you would listen then maybe I wouldn't have to use so much force to get through your thick skull."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry and Ginny sat on one of the big overstuffed couches casually doing homework. When Hermione came back. She was accompanied by Seamus, which was something odd. She was usually alone or with Harry or Ron never with another Gryffindor boy. So this was a change, "Maybe for the better." Thought Harry.  
  
Hermione didn't notice the two teens on the couch and instead went to bed.  
  
"So where's Ron?" Ginny asked Harry without stuttering and without looking up from her book.  
  
Harry noticed this and looked at her. "She must've gotten over it." He thought.  
  
For some reason this thought made him cringe and not want to believe it.  
  
"Harry, are you ok?" She asked curiously looking up at him.  
  
"Yes, of course I am."  
  
"You still haven't answered my question."  
  
"Which was. Oh yes Ron is with the twins. They said something about carrying on the tradition. Or something like that."  
  
"Mum will be thrilled to hear that." Ginny said with a twist of sarcasm.  
  
Harry continued to look at her, fascinated with why he didn't notice her like that before. But he did now and that was what mattered he supposed.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What's with you today? You don't seem all here. You seem preoccupied with something."  
  
He tried to tell her the truth but the adrenaline and fear were too much for him to handle right then. So he bid her goodnight and went to his room.  
  
As Harry drifted to sleep he remembered a muggle song he had heard over the summer holidays. When he heard it he thought it to be extremely foolish. But now it held a deeper meaning for him.  
  
"Tell me that you wake up crying  
  
And you're not sure exactly why  
  
Tell me that something is missing  
  
In your life, in your life baby  
  
Tell me that you live for love  
  
That forever is never enough  
  
That you've waited all your life to see  
  
That you want so badly to believe  
  
Tell me that it's not just me"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N The song is "It's Not Just Me" By Rascall Flatts. 


	9. Shock

"Tell her. Just get it over with. So what if she doesn't fell the same. At least you'll know." Hermione felt like the biggest hypocrite at that point. She knew she should go talk to Draco about the journal but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was afraid of what might happen if she did. Instead she stayed silent about it.  
  
"I can't." He said with a pleading voice.  
  
"You have to or I will."  
  
"What?" He said doing a double take. "You can't!" Looking extremely terrified. "Hermione please don't. I don't want her to know, not yet. And I only told you because I thought you'd be the sensible one about this."  
  
"Yes, but not telling her wouldn't be very sensible, now would it?"  
  
Hermione looked at the boy. She looked at his face. She saw fear, anger and sadness in just one look. She felt pity for him. 'So maybe I won't tell her' She reasoned with herself. 'He needs her desperately though. So maybe I will, I just can't let him know. Yes that's it, I'll tell her.'  
  
"Please Hermione. Don't. Not yet."  
  
"Fine."  
  
"You promise then?"  
  
Hermione crossed her fingers behind her back before she promised anything to the boy. "Of course. Look I have to go to the library. So I'll catch up with you later."  
  
As she walked to the library she devised a plan to tell Ginny. 'So I'll just tell her next time I see her, then. Good now that's settled.' She was so absorbed in thought that she didn't see that she was going to run into the blonde Slytherin. He knew that they were going to collide but for some reason unknown to him he didn't care. So he let her run into him.  
  
"Hey now, you better watch where your going next time." He regained his composer as she was picking things up off of the floor. "Here, let me help you."  
  
"I don't need your help."  
  
"Yeah you're right, you need mental help." At this he laughed a little signaling that it was a joke. She looked at him in shock. She didn't know what to say, she was speechless. He was semi-nice to her. This surprised her so much that she dropped the things in her hands again. "Here you better let me, since you haven't any luck picking them up." He chuckled again.  
  
She didn't respond she couldn't. She tried to give thanks or say anything but her mouth wouldn't work. He handed her the papers and books that she'd dropped. He got up off of the floor and walked away, leaving her alone. When she finally believed what had happened she went to the library, to get her work done.  
  
When she arrived she spread her things out on the table. She saw it. The damned cursed book. He had slipped it into her things when he handed them to her. 'That means he knows it's mine.' She thought. 'Oh well.'  
  
She flipped through the pages, until she reached the end of her poetry. There was writing on the page right after her last poem. It was Draco's handwriting. She wasn't sure of this but she knew it wasn't Ron's or Harry's so it had to be his.  
  
'Hermione, I wasn't sure who had written in this book at first. But when I saw you at the library last night I knew it was you. I knew that you would never confront me about the journal ever again after last night. So I'm confronting you. I have no intention of telling anyone what I've read. So rest easily. I decided that since the journal wasn't mine to begin with, that it must return to its rightful owner. I'm sorry if my finding it caused you worry. And I'm also sorry I had to return it like I did, but I decided that it was the best way to avoid an uncomfortable situation.  
  
Draco'  
  
'Figures he'd find a way to worm out of an "uncomfortable" situation. I always knew he did.' She wasn't angry with him but she wouldn't tell herself that. Instead she busied herself with schoolwork unaware that the Christmas holidays would soon be there and that she could do it then.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Christmas came quickly; so quickly that it was highly suspicious. Like the twins had sped up time, without anyone knowing. But no one really cared. All that really mattered was that it was there and they got a break from school.  
  
Christmas morning was a very eventful morning. Ron and Harry had gotten up unusually early and had ripped open every one of their presents before Hermione had gotten downstairs. They said their casual "hellos" with a "Happy Christmas" thrown in before Hermione opened her gifts.  
  
She received a huge book on every spell imaginable from her parents. A bunch of candy from Ron and from Harry she received a watch that glowed purple when you lost track of time. She also received the traditional rock cakes from Hagrid, which she got every single year. But there was something else. Another gift. If she hadn't been daydreaming of how to get rid of the rock cakes while looking at the floor she would have missed its presence.  
  
Before Harry and Ron noticed anything suspicious, she pocketed the tiny box and gathered her gifts, taking them to her room. She left the gifts including the box, in her room because the others were calling her, it seemed they were going down to breakfast. So she wanted to join them. She left the room, leaving it darkened and utterly alone. Not aware that her cat, Crookshanks, would be left to entertain himself the many hours she was gone until her return.  
  
That night the Great Hall was completely decorated for the Yule Tides. A huge tree surrounded by twelve others, each decorated picture perfectly. The food was amazing as usual. There was everything a wizard could ever imagine. Turkey, mince pies, roast, peas, gravy, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, pies of all types, the list could continue for hours. The house elves had really outdone themselves this year. They always did.  
  
There were tiny explosions all around the Great Hall some of them from the wizard crackers, but mostly from Fred and George and their infinite supplies of goods that would send Filch to the mad house someday.  
  
This Christmas would be one that Hermione would remember until the day she died.  
  
When night came and the famous trio grew too tired to stay awake they parted their ways and went to their separate rooms. Each of them expecting to fall asleep almost as instantly as their heads touched their pillows.  
  
Hermione wouldn't have noticed the little gift if it hadn't been for Crookshanks. He had ripped the paper covering the box slightly but hadn't damaged the contents inside of it. She picked it up tearing off the paper inside of the box was a card. It read:  
  
' To: Hermione Granger  
  
I was the one who sent you the rose and now here is another token of my affection. I will soon let you in on the big secret but until then wear this for me.  
  
Always Yours'  
  
She looked underneath the card and found a beautiful golden necklace. The chain was solid gold and on the chain was a simple diamond. She put the necklace on.  
  
For some odd reason the common sense in Hermione had left completely. On normal days her first thought would be that it was cursed some how and that it should be left alone for the rest of eternity but today was different. 


End file.
